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Friday, 12 September 2014

The Mahr and The Reciprocal Treaty

LESSON
# 492 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

The Mahr and The Reciprocal Treaty

Surah NISAAA’ (WOMEN) - Chapter - 4)

Verses
–24b of 176, Section –4/24 (Part – 5)

And those of whom ye seek content (by marrying
them), give unto them their dowries as a duty. And there is no sin for you in
what ye do by mutual agreement after the duty (hath been done). Lo! Allah is
ever Knower, Wise.

‘as-tamta’-tum – ‘is-tamtaa’-‘un has been used as infinitive mood, which means ‘to get
advantage, to enjoy’. Here it aims living of husband and wife together in
solitude for a long time.

‘ujuura
hunna – (their rights), ‘ujuur is plural of ‘ajr,
which means wages, retaliation. Here it points towards the Mahr of the women (the dowry to be paid by the husband).

The orders regarding the Mahr (the money or its value resting upon the husband after
marriage) have been ordained in this part of the verse. That is to say; any man
married a woman and took the benefit from her for a fixed duration, then it is
necessary to give that woman completely amount of the Mahr. Moreover, until the woman does not forgive it by herself, the
payment of the Mahr is essential. It
has been noticed from the hindrance of the word ‘is-tamtaa’-‘un that if one has not got any advantage from the woman and her
husband has divorced her, then the husband is not bound to pay the entire
amount of dowry. Its complete detail was discussed in Surah Al-Baqra (The Cow). After that, it has been described that in
determination of the dowry and its payment, increasing and decreasing the dowry
is lawful with mutual agreement between husband and wife. That is to say; after
fixing the amount of Mahr, if either
the wife decreases the amount of dowry happily or the husband gives more than
the specified amount of Mahr
willingly to her wife then it is no sin. However, only the condition is that they
both ‘husband and wife’ should be willing to do so mutually.

At the end, Allah Almighty directed that He knows
the expedience, all kinds of advantages and disadvantages of the human beings
and His orders are full of wisdom. Betterment and prosperity for the people is hidden
in obedience of His orders in the world and the Hereafter, and if they disobey
His orders then there will be failure in the world and disgrace in the
Hereafter.

Relationship of husband and wife is a very important
matter. Dependence of the continuance of human generation (and perfect growth
and education of the children) is connected with the mutual pleasant relation
and assistance between both of them. Only their strong relation is the origin
of prosperity and well-being of the children. Therefore, it is essential to
understand and act upon the laws, which Allah Almighty has described in Holy
Qur’an.

It has come to know from this verse that the determination
of dowry is a necessary thing for the nuptial and its payment is incumbent on
the man.

Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman Script & Translated from Arabic to English by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’an published By Idara Islah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated
Urdu to English by Muhammad Sharif).